Dylan Larkin on Cross Check that Left Him Motionless on the Ice and How the NHL Needs to do Better
Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings played his first game in over a week last night after a brutal cross check that left him lying motionless on the ice. Now, Larkin is opening up on the illegal hit, saying the league needs to a better jonb of protecting players.
The cross check came from Mathieu Joseph of the Ottawa Senators during a game on Dec. 11. Larkin was in front of the Sens net trying to jam in a rebound when Joseph clobbered him with a shot to the back of the head.
Speaking about the incident, Larkin said he did nothing to warrant that reaction from Joseph, and he wonders why there was no supplemental punishment from the NHL.
"This instance, watching it back, I wasn't really doing anything. I just was kind of trying to make a play on the puck, and just standing there really. ...How do you protect yourself? Who's protecting you? There's a lot of (unanswered questions) in our sport right now."
Larkin stressed he believes the NHL's officials on the ice are doing the best job they can.
"It's the message being sent down from the top, what is safe and what's not, and how to discipline it, there's a lot of questions there. And it's kind of scary as a player."
"Watching it back, replaying it in your head, it's pretty scary. There's a lot of emotions there that you kind of replay and you live with and you have to see that."
"Watching it back, replaying it in your head, it's pretty scary. There's a lot of emotions there that you kind of replay and you live with and you have to see that."
The only suspension that came from that sequence was for David Perron, who received six games for a terrible cross check on the Sens Artem Zub.
| POLL | ||
Thought on Larkin's comments? | ||
| He's right | 556 | 74.3 % |
| He's overreacting | 136 | 18.2 % |
| I'm not sure | 56 | 7.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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